you. >> this is al jazeera americ ala live, i'm tony harris. >> and from the people responsible for the affordable care act online debacle. >> oh my gosh, that's beautiful. >> and helping survivors of sandy reclaim some of their most precious belongings. >> some of america's top intelligence leaders were in the hot seat on capitol hill today. they were there to answer difficult questions about recent

revelations about u.s. surveillance programs, the hearing took place as lawmakers considered new legislation that would limit the nsa's ability to gather information. randall pinkston joins us at capitol hill. what happened in those nsa hearings today? >> well, tony, the hearing ended an hour ago after an unusual three and a half hours technique. the members of the house select committee on intelligence complimented the work of the national security agency which as you know are under fire since the revelation by former nsa analyst edward snowden that revealed documents that showed that they had been listen together phone conversation or scooping up the phone numbers of conversation of american citizens. the director of national

intelligence said that the information was gathered legally, and the content is only available to a handful of people. >> everything that we do on this program is audited 100%. on the business records. 100%. the da data is kept separate frm all the other data we have. it's important to understand that the leaker did not have access to this data period. >> so randall, are these hearings setting the stage for the usa freedom act, and if so what would that legislation mean? what would it entail? >> reporter: well, yes, indeed. the hearings are setting the stage for the freedom act. the freedom act would be an amendment of the patriot okay, and what it would not do is restrict the power of the nsa to gather intelligence but plays some new rules. for example, it would end the

"dragnet" collection of phone records of american citizens. there would be stronger restrictions of who is targeted, and there would be a new position created who would be part of that super secret fisa court to protect privacy rights. >> how has the white house responded to these allegations of spying, particularly on world leaders? >> reporter: well, the white house has already said that through the state department there have been some problems. some people have been rather upset about america's spying techniques, if you will, while many people in congress say that the u.s. has kept people safe, others are saying there has to be some work done to repair relations. for example, with germany's angela merkel, who said that her phone had been listened to, but there is at least one member of

congress, a republican, a member of the intelligence committee who said there is no need to change anything. this is representative peter king. >> the nsa is doing a phenomenal job. to me they're doing outstanding patriotic jobs. i'm opposed to what they're trying to do. i think the nsa is doing an outstanding job. and for us to tie its hands are going to cost american lives. >> tony just this little tidbit, there was a moment of levity at the hearing when one of the spy chiefs said what do you mean? "there's spying going on in the world." >> thanks, appreciate it. the nation's spy chiefs were not the only one facing difficult questions on capitol hill today. lawmakers sent several hours grilling the head of the

problem-plagued health insurance website. mike viqueira is in washington for us. how tough was that hearing, and did anything really come out of it? anything new? >> you know, tony, it's interesting. let's bottom line this. there is a lot of partisan back and forth. there is finger pointing and fighting between republicans and democrats in the ways and means committee, but they had failed shutdown, the obamacare affordable care act is going to exist. they're not going to kill it. that much is as stake. that march 31st, if you do not have march by march 31st of next year you face a fine. with all the problems on the website, the technical problems, glitches, as first called by president obama, but they're more than that, but there have been a whole host of problems

with the implementation of the law. now, after initially blaming a volume, they said it was a sign of public enthusiasm, a good sign after the october first launch of the website, now marilyn tavennar, she's over the agency that oversees the implementation of the obamacare. >> i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. we know how desperately you need affordable coverage. i want to assure you that healthcare.gov can and will be fixed, and we're working around the clock to deliver the shopping experience that you deserve. >> reporter: a lot of indignation, and umbridge on the part of the republicans. the irony when this website is up and functioning it will help millions of people to enroll in

the affordable care act. dave camp is the republican chairman of this committee. from michigan. he wants to know how many people have been successful in going through the website and obtaining insurance. >> do you not know? do you know have any idea how many people have enrolled? >> folks are still in the process of enrolling, but in the state base exchange and the federal exchange. we'll have knows numbers in the middle of november. >> are you getting those numbers? >> not yet. >> you have no numbers on who has enrolled? so you have no idea? >> we'll have those numbers available mid-november. >> reporter: the administration of course knows how many people have been successful in going through the website. they just don't want to say because that number is very low. >> kathleen sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, she's marilyn

tavennar's boss. she testifies tomorrow. >> that will be a good one. there are now several published reports that millions of americans who currently have health insurance have been told they cannot renew their current plan. now this contradicts what the obama administration has previously said. david shuster is here to do that for us. >> tony, president obama has repeatedly said that for those who like their healthcare insurance they'll be able to keep it, but the reality for many that is not true. insurance companies have had to make adjustments to comply with the healthcare law. and state after state they're being forced to change their plans. insurance companies must meet basic minimum standards called essential health benefits. there are ten of these benefits that must be covered, doctor visits, emergency care,

hospitalization, maternity and newborn care. many are receiving cancellation letters if their policies lack some of these standard. the people most affected by the cancellation are those who buy insurance by themselves such as freelancers and independent contractors, 14 million americans, nearly everybody else gets their insurance through their employer or medicare and already has a plan that meets the standard. >> you got one of these notes in the mail from your insurancer who says you have to change area plan. is there a cost involved? >> the irony according to the kaiser foundation said half who are receiving cancellation letters will pay less than what they're paying now.

the other half getting cancellation notice will have to pay more for insurance than they're paying now. for one woman who is paying $98 a month, many are wondering why they need to pay for insurance that they do not want or do not need. >> how much of a hit is the president taking. >> the statement that people will be allowed to keep their previous conference, but the white house insists all the this will depend on whether overall healthcare dropped or people who don't have insurance will contribute and join the system. the white house insists they were all clear that some americans would have to pay more on the front end in order to bring total healthcare costs down for everybody over the long term.

>> let's spend a little bit more time on this. david, appreciate it. joining me now from washington, d.c. is kaiser healthcare news reporter marry agnes casey. mary, it's good to see you. i saw you on c-span today so i had "t" get yo to get you on th. diyou were at the hearing. did you learn anything that you didn't know? >> no, it's a predictable session. there may be some element that you might have some member of the administration apologizing but over all it was predictable. the republicans were negative on the website. you, marilyn tavennar and other officials were here telling us many, many times that the website would be functioning, and how can we believe you that it will happen on the 30th. democrats have predicted that they have voted 40 times to repeal all of the healthcare law. and marilyn tavennar said the

website is working. they want it to improve, and many people's coverage will improve as part of the aca. >> i didn't have enough time to stay with it as long as i would have liked. do we have a better understanding after this hearing as to the real problems with the site? why it is so bulky, why it is so glitchy? >> well, there are a variety of explanations. one could be the volume. they didn't have a soft launch. they didn't have a gradual roll out. it went live and while they were anticipating there would be problems they have to fix there were definitely more than they anticipated. it's also was highlighted the fact that there was a decision made that initially you had to create an account before you could even look at the rates, create a bottleneck. they changed the sites. they have a tab on there now. you can look at rates without creating an account. they stressed you can apply by phone. you can apply through the mail.

they're broaden ways for people to apply and get their coverage on the kids. >> mary, how bad--i mentioned that i saw you earlier today on c-span, and there were a lot of people calling in and asking you to explain their bad consumer experience. how bad of a consumer experience is this website? more generally speaking, and do you think it will discourage young people who are needed for this program to work from logging on and purchasing health insurance? >> those are great questions. the experience is it varies per person. we have people from my office who get on, and others couldn't get on. to your point of people who are discouraged. people who need insurance, you bet they're going to hang in there until they can enroll. but younger people who are healthier, and may--they may--if they become overly frustrated. if they don't enroll in the

health plan you won't have that healthy group of people to balance out the risk. >> another one here, and i don't know if you have the answer to this question, but i'm going to ask it any way. what is the evidence, i heard this asked during the testimony today. what is the evidence that the aca is making it harder for employers to invest and hire people? have you seen this evidence? >> i have not seen it. you hear anecdotal evidence. those are the reports that we've heard. but no, there has not been an overall trend charted. we have to remember the employer mandate has been delayed for a year. the requirement that don't have coverage will pay a fine. employers will be looking now when making decisions for future years but these anecdotal reports i don't want to discount what everyone has experienced but they're anecdotal at this point. >> people around the country, david shuster was just talking about this a moment ago, why are people around the country receiving cancellation notice

from their insures. >> these are people in the small group market. their plans don't comply with the affordabl affordable care a. if the plans don't comply with that, to bring them into compliance the current plan, they can no longer be purchased. they can buy a newer plan. it can be less expensive or more expensive depending on the coverage they pick. >> i didn't even have to have that last answer. mary agnes kerry from health news. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> the mother of trayvo trayvonn

said that the laws need to be changed. but others say the laws make possible the right to self defense. her son was killed by george zimmerman, the man who sparked the debate stand your ground law. tom foley was honored with a memorial service in congress. the democrat served 30 years as a house of representative. he served as speaker of the house from 1990 to 1995. president obama and clinton attended today's ceremony. >> good afternoon, i'm meteorologist kvin corriveau. well, today it feels like winter in the west and the north, and it feels like spring and early fall in the southeast and the east. let's break it down a little bit for you because this is the time of year where we get a lot of

changes in the atmosphere and that's exactly what we have here. a lot of rain. we have mixed precipitation which is dangerous. we're talking about freezing rain, especially in the overnight hours. that's where we see some of these pinks as well as snow. now for the west, though, the temperatures are quite low. the snow is tapering off earlier at the beginning of the week. we saw in some locations, 8 to 10 inches of accumulation just in the ten-hour period. in colorado they do expect to see another ten inches of snow falling. that's where we have the winter storm warning for the higher elevations. also including parts of maybe even denver there in the overnight hours. not as much accumulation for them there. temperatures, look at this, billings montana, 28 degrees. we're getting close to the max for this afternoon. for the northern plains we're seeing snow pushing across parts

of the great lakes as well. this particular storm system that you see right here, this will be making its way over towards the east as we go towards thursday and friday. we're going to be watching very carefully. unfortunately the nice weather we have across the northeast and the eastern seaboard, that will end for some people but down here towards the southeast not looking too bad. the temperatures we expect to see in atlanta, 76 degrees. up towards washington, 68. this is where the nice weather and unfortunately that's where we're seeing a lot of the problems. tony, back. >> now, a record day on wall street but does that translate into a stronger economy? ali velshi with oh that and more. and delivering the most to students for the least amount of money.

he >> stocks hitting new highs, the dow and s&p 500 reaching record levels today. look at these numbers.

ali velshi, where is ali? he'll be talking about this at the top of the hour. we have a couple of minutes with him. >> did you not think that i was going to be here? >> i just wanted to get to you quicker. i didn't want to read all that. i just wanted to get to you. >> i hear you, let me explain the story to you. we have two sets of data. one comes before the government shutdown. the other comes after the government shutdown. the retail sales numbers if you include cars in there the number was down a little bit but for a very particular reason, it's not important to discuss we generally want to calculate this without cars, and sales rose in september. then consumer confidence in october, october 1st when the shutdown hit. it plunged. it was down nine points, the lowest it's been in a very long time. that goes to show you without the government mucking things up, the american consumer was actually feeling okay.

home prices were up, interest rates were going up, but the stock market was strong. job growth was there. government comes in and grinds sentiment to a standstill. and we're not feeling good the money goes back in the pocket. >> so can you explain to me what is happening with stocks? >> no. i have to tell you, i find this fascinating. another record, the dow closes as a high. the new record. the s&p is set 22 and 33 all-time highs so far this month, no. i think this is important. i don't meaning to sarcastic. the economy doesn't support that kind of a rise. i would just know about your stocks. know what you would do if stocks started to turn downward. i'm not saying that they're going to, but just know what you're going to go so you don't hit the panic button and start

selling. >> it almost sounds phraseology, could it be we're talking about irrational ex-use brans with stocks? >> this is the kind of behavior that makes you wonder about that. there are a lot of companies who are still under valued, still good values to buy. but 25% in a year is two and a half, three times more than the average long-term gain in the stock market. just be conscious of it. >> that is amazing. can't wait to see your program tonight. i'm now talking about bit, bit, bit. >> bit coin. >> i'll stand by and listen. >> all right, ali, appreciate it. see you at the top of the hour. let's get a look at the headlines in sports. michael eaves is here with that. michael? >> reporter: yes, world series time, tony, and one more win, that's all that stands between

the boston red sox and their third world series title in ten years. the last two times baltimore won th--boston wonthe title was 200. and they can do that over the next two days. the hardwood, the league tips off tonight with two-time nba defending champions miami heat hosting the chicago bulls who welcome back derrick rose, after he missed all of last season with a torn knee ligament. and in soccer david beckham has chosen miami to be the site of his new major league soccer franchise. it wathe option to be an owner s part of his contract with

galaxy. those are your headlines. charles barkley tells us what will stop the heat from winning this year's nba title. >> how will beckham survive? >> reporter: i don't know. >> appreciate it. with college costs rising, parents and students are trying to find the best match for their education and their bottom line. at issue is whether college rankings help or hinder the search for the right match. we take a look. >> trish, the daughter of immigrants from india, homes to one day become a pediatrician. she's a pre-med major at queens college who lives at home. her tuition is $6,000 a year. which is all her family can afford. it provides large amounts of student aid so student don't have to pick up a job to pay their tuition. >> we're getting students who come from very modest means, first in the family to go to college, maybe first in this country. without us they wouldn't be able

to transcend their particular situation and move up. >> reporter: college has everything to do with how families pick schools. >> from working class families. they're selecting the colleges based on affordability and geographical screens of their son or daughter commuting as opposed to living on campus. >> reporter: with tuition on the rise many families are looking at where they can get the most bang for the buck. the washington monthly has produced one of many lists that ranks many colleges just that, and queens college is number two. they looked at more than 1500 colleges. queens ranked best at getting low income students get marketable degrees at low prices. >> reporter: they also took into account the school's record of cutting edge scholarships and effectiveness of encouraging their students to give back to their country, but measuring the college can produce different

results. other lists had different criteria and the results are not always as positive. >> reporter: for example, looking at the school's return of investment, working on the valley of the alumni earnings and income. while the tuition might be higher, so are the salaries of its graduates. harvey mud college is nine times than queens and ranks number one and queens fals falls 338. >> as far as these lists are concerned, he believe students are not using them in their decision-making process. i believe the lists serve as an affirmation of the college they're choosing. >> reporter: they say it also is a way for schools to tout their name. >> for example, princeton review

ranks us high on interaction. living in the bureau of queens, we want that. >> reporter: school rankings might not be the most accurate consumer tools but students and parents look at them. al jazeera, flushing, new york.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm tony harris. here is a look at your top stories. under review under the ways of national security spying of widespread surveillance of phones records. >> i want to apologize that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> marilyn tavennar with the affordable care act website. testifyining before a critical house committee.

it's been one year since hurricane sandy hit the northeast and people are still dealing with clean up and insurance claims. clean up is estimated at $65 billion. sandy was such a powerful storm and carved out a lasting legacy as it churned up the coast line. the massive metal rollercoaster floating off the shore, and the flooded subways in new york city are hard to perfect. other images have been vital, images before the storm. here is our report. >> oh, my god, i love this. >> reporter: when sandy surged crashed through the windows of their homes the last thing they were worried about were their photographs. >> we ran like hell up these stairs. >> reporter: after the water receded, they realized their precious pictures collected over 50 years were ruined.

>> disgusting. >> covered with mud. >> mud and sewage. >> reporter: they did their best to save them. >> the older ones i was very aphrase of but could only salvage, keeping them in a plastic bag. >> i guess my biggest fear was that i wouldn't get to them in time because i literally--i would take one soggy album every night and i would peel th the ascit ate off the covers without ripping them. >> then she red about freezing photos to keep them from mold. >> reporter: she observed over every picture. >> at least i saved them. maybe one day they'll magically come--i don't know. >> that magical day came a few months after the storm as she was reading the newspaper. she found her photograph fa fai. >> i said my name is lee. i'm a compete stranger.

i saw your photographs from the shore. with you like me to restore them for you. >> she spends up to 30 hours to restore a cybil picture. she got a website up about her charitable cause, "care for sandy" and then she set up impromptu scanning events. >> as pictures piled up for every event the need for manpower mounted. >> there was no way i could restore 10% of these on my own. >> reporter: with hundreds of photos, care for sandy became a worldwide effort. because lee has enlisted 500 volunteers in 30 countries across the globe. from a retired illustrator in the philippines, to a class call music composer in venezuela, to a grandmother in virginia.

>> if you have a computer, photo shop skills no matter where you live in the world you can reach out and help someone. >> mat come volunteers from a tiny village in scotland, and dave gives back from the heartland of indiana. lee gives the finishing touches. for her the k rakauers are the ultimate mission. you can imagine the surprise the photos finished weeks before scheduled. >> oh, my god, you did the wedding photo. >> all this stuff. >> i see your brothers shoes and he has shoes. >> reporter: from their wedding day to her childhood family photos. >> oh, my god. >> that is absolutely amazing. >> my father is gone and my sister is gone. oh, my god, it's just beautiful. >> it's really nice.

>> an old memory reborn from a labor of love. >> something good that i could actually take away from the experience and hold on to. >> how good is that. thousands of families lost their homes. maria joins me now with a look at the ongoing efforts to recover and rebuild. >> reporter: sandy costed an estimated $65 billion in damages. that's the costliest storm since hurricane katrina. the u.s. department of housing and urban development said of the $48 billion in pledged aid money only $5.2 billion has been tapped. recovery efforts are still under way. there is no official number for the amount of people who are still displaced. particularly example hard-hit areas like new jersey. 26,000 people were still unable to use damaged or destroyed homes there. and in new york city officials calculate 2,000 homeowners and renters are still in temporary

lodging. now, some homes may never come back in hard-hit staten island. the state is offering to buy areas, and the small business administration received 14,000 loan applications, and 4,000 have been approved. >> the leaders of pakistan and afghanistan met in london to revive talks. the u.s. and n.a.t.o. troops withdraw from afghanistan next year. this is the fourth such meeting designed to bring stability to the region. the syrian government said it will be attending the proposed two-peace conference meanwhile the hundreds fled the

violence as the violence continues. >> reporter: spending a second day in damascus. the geneva two peace conference was thrown into doubt last week when rebel groups not only vowed to boycott it but to attack any who decide to attend. >> we are preparing for geneva two peace talks, and it will be the syrian parties who will decide the transitional period and what follows the transitional period. >> reporter: state television announced that brahini was told that the bashar al-assad government would be attending.

but those in defiance said no negotiations will take place unless assad steps down first. meanwhile on the ground the continued fighting is forcing more and more families to flee. close to the capital, hundreds of people picked up belongings they could and took off in foot in search of a place, any place that might be safe. with constant doubts surrounding the political process it seems the only thing guaranteed at the moment is more killing and more misery. al jazeera. >> the syrian war, the civil war in syria is creating a public health crisis among the country's youngest and most vulnerable. the world health organization said it has diagnosed polo, and test results pending for 12 more

cases. the who announced it's find negotiation geneva. >> a lot of is still unknown and investigations are still ongoing. they all appear to be very young, so less than aged two. and they all appear to be under or unimimmunized. >> the u.n. launched an outbreak to immunize 1.9 million children against polio and other diseases. 26 palestinians prisoners will be released from custody any israel. this is the second round of prisoners to be freeze since august. their release is part of the u.s. broker deal. israeli and palestinian officials resume direct talks in august after a three-year hiatus as part of the process. israel freed to release palestinians prisoners who were serving long sentence.

istanbul opened a new underwater tunnel linking the european and asian side of the city. we report on the engineering milestone. >> reporter: the project is 150-year-old dream that became a reality. a turkish-japanese consortium took on the task of sub merging and anchoring the tunnel to the riverbed. talks started in 2004 but it was stopped because of archeological findings. it is more than 60 kilometers and has the capacity of more than 1 million passengers a day. the most important part of this project is the undersea tunnel. and it basically connects asia where i am with europe. the ride between the two stations on the two sides is only four minutes. the tunnel runs under the strait

that connects the black sea and divides istanbul between asia and europe. it's 13.6 kilometers long including and under way stretch of 4.4 kilometers. the tunnel cost more than $4 billion to build. and the turkish government said that's money well spent. >> not only joining two continents, it's making the dreams of 50 years coming true. linking history with today and linking today with the future. it's giving confidence to this nation. it is giving the nation faith. it shows us what we can do when we really believe in ourselves. >> reporter: driving across istanbul is never easy, and crossing the iconic istanbul bridge sometimes takes hours. >> our commute to the other side will be much easier especially

in the morning rush glare it will relief the traffic by only 5%. >> reporter: there are 13 million people living in istanbul. the government hopes that the new train will ease traffic congestion by 20%. tuesday is also the 90s anniversary for the founding of the turkish republic. the government called it a day of unity, national pride and celebration. what once the party is over the people of istanbul just hope getting around will be a little easier. al jazeera, istanbul. >> coming up on al jazeera america with just a few months to go, is russia ready for the winter olympics in sochi? and it is time to get things started in the nba. michael eaves is up next in sports.

antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it on the stream. >> social media isn't an after-thought, it drives discussion across america. >> al jazeera america's social media community, on tv and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. >> post, upload and interact. >> every night share undiscovered stories.

>> a magnate for micr migrant workers. when they arrive they can face ruthless exploitation. wages under $2 an hour. passports confiscated, and heavy laboring on 12-hour shifts seven days a week. karem's case is one of the worst we came across. he has been a construction work here for the past three years but hasn't been paid.

his russian gir girlfriend has d to support him. he has taken them to court. >> they refused to work on my case. they told me to leave town and not come back. there were threats. >> reporter: according to human rights watch the russian authorities have been rounding up hundreds of migrant workers because o.this footage was takea lawyer on his mobile phone at one of the detention centers. a flimsy metal shed set up in the court yard at the police station. some men have been kept here for a week with no place to sleep and forced to buy their own food. deprived of any legal counsel or translators, courts have been

de porting them and denying them their right to appeal. >> the company as a construction site gives a man a job and promises to sort out his documents including the permission to work but in fact they don't do it. they use the migrant's vulnerability to their advantage. they cheat on them. >> even this russian work was having trouble getting pate but his unorthodox of protest sowing up his created such a candle that his employers paid the money that they owed him. al jazeera, sochi. >> michaels eaves is here with a day in sports. let's give baseball a bit of a break. >> reporter: all about the hardwood tonight. we have pretty good games on the scheduled debut. the nba season does tip off its regular season less than an hour with two games on the document. the miami heat and out in los angeles the lakers and

clippers renew their rivalry at the staple center. the return of commentator charles barkley. earlier i sat down with the basketball hall of famer and asked him if we wrong james and thand--asked him if lebron james and the two-time winning team the heat. >> any time you have lebron, one of the best players i've ever seen, what is key, number one, it's not like they were a juggernaut. they won seven games and they lost to the spurs. are he favorite? yeah, they're the favorite. but they're not the prohibitive favorite. i think greg oden is very important. when they play against big teams they really struggle. greg has not played in three years. he's going to make them a bigger team. but that's a big if because he has not played in three years, and you don't know how somebody's body is going to hold

up. i always tell people, nobody hurts at day one. but after 40 games, 50 games, injuries, that could determine-- >> charles also told me he felt there practice eight teams that had a legitimate chance, and one of those teams is the revamped houston rockets who added dwight howard. >> reporter: if the huston roberts are looking for a time to make a run towards their first nba title in 20 years, the time is now. >> we all have, you know, the same goal, which is to win the championship. we understand it's not going to be easy. there are a lot of great teams in the west, and we have an opportunity to do something special.

>> i think we definitely have a chance, and i think when you think of the favorites you have your san antonio, miami, you have really good teams who have been there. we haven't been there. we just got put together. we're going to try to make some noise. >> as the rockets look to make some noise this season they're also making sure their newly renovated team wins. >> we all have to sacrifice something in order to be a championship team. we have to sacrifice something. and i think everybody is on board with that. >> we had to buy in to be able to really sacrifice for each other, and understand that, hey, every might not be able to do as much as they've done in the past. but for the good of the team we'll all buy in. that's the important component of gelling. >> there is no doubt the pressure to win is already on houston this year, but also on

the rockets general manager who put this team together. >> darrell, you're the general manager. you brought in james hardy. you brought in lin, now you have dwight howard. what makes you think this is going to work? >> it's pretty simple. you look at the formula for winning championships, and its pairing a top, pierce garnett, wade, shaq, kobe, shaq, genobili, gun can, that's the former l and we feel that we have it. if we don't make the playoffs we'll be disappointed for sure. i think we've got a chance. there is only five to seven teams in the league that have a chance to win the title going into the season, i feel like we're one of them. >> with that said the rockets still have yet to play a game leaving houston with high hopes but unclear how their season will play out.

>> we're not sure but we have to figure it out. that's our job. you know what, i'm envisioning in my mind that we can attack from a lot of different angles, and hopefully we can make a lot of teams feel like they have to pick their poison. >> we have a lot of question marks, but if we're as good as we hope to be it's because we have a very young team who's improving. that's going to be in the long run. >> so on paper you have all these teams who have legitimate chances to win, but until you beat the champs. >> you got to bet the champs. >> and the heat trying to be the first team to win three straight titles since kobe and shaq. >> those were good years. boy, this is going to be good. >> kick off. i have to get a seat. >> save one for me. the search for buried pirate treasure makes for a plot of many tall tales and stories, but it has paid for for archeologists off the coast of north carolina. yesterday the team recovered

nine canons used by the pirate black beard and it was recovered from the boat of 1717. the largest weighs 3,000 pounds. no word on how much that is worth in gold. the african island of madagascar is facing an unusual natural disaster. billions of locusts are darkening the skies, destroying crops and grazing lands and leaving millions of people without food. tanya page has the story. >> these farmers were helpless when a swarm of locusts descended on their rice paddies. they left everything leaving the villagers hungry. there is new growth, their animals are also suffering. the locusts ate the food for the bulls, so everything has to be done by hand. >> the locusts came from the south blown by the wind. they blew silently in a huge

swarm. we were very surprised. it passed like a huge cloud and it blocked out the sun. >> reporter: at the height of the infestation the swarms affected 70% of madagascar, combined with the affect of the annual cyclones, this year's harvest is down 70%. they say a third of ruler households are hungry with nearly 10 million people at risk. the swarms first appeared in 2009, but a political and economic crisis that's gripped the country since a coup that year left officials helpless, too. >> all the conditions were ripe for locusts to swarm. at the same time, our economic crisis saw the fight against locals was too slow. they didn't have any money so the locusts grew out of control. >> an eradication program starts

in november. 2 million hecehs of land will be prayed, but they need to raise a quarter of the $41 million needed for the plan. >> this is the best time of year to start the eradication of the program. the insects are on the ground reproducing and laying eggs. the reduced harvests means that staple foods are more expensive. feeding nearly a quarter madagascar children a day. it could be their only decent move. a life made harder by factors out of their control, natural and manmade. al jazeera, madagascar. >> reporter: coming up on "real money" the affordable care act might not be so affordable after all for 6.5 million americans. and here is an equation that doesn't add up. consumers aren't feeling so hot but they're still spending p and

a year after super storm sandy, business owners on staten island are rebuilding their own way. all that and more on real money. on august 20th, al jazeera america introduced

>> i want to give to you interesting information that we have pulled up here concerning all the storms that have hit new jersey since 1856 you will the way through 2012. notice how any of these storms were off the coast either went from a southwestern trajectory. the majority of them did that. the most powerful side of the storm is always to the right. that meant any of these storms most intensity was out here towards the atlantic except for sandy. now this was the trajectory sandy took when it went across new jersey in 201237 are we going to see this trajectory again? most of the teams will most likely take this course. when they get to this part of the northern hemisphere that is

what we can see there. in other news temperatures across the north looked like this. kind of cool towards the northeast. botch at 44 degrees. new york at 51. tomorrow begins the sixth game of the world series. a lot of people are looking at what could be happening in boston. but right now things are looking nice. we do have storms coming out, coming across the great lakes and they are going to be bringing problems not necessarily on wednesday, but as we go towards thursday, yes. temperatures look like this. boston will be 54, new york at 60. we're going to be seeing rain beginning. on wednesday they're going to be light. as we go towards thursday it will get worse and friday it's going to be a miserable day. that's a look at your national weather. tony has your headlines coming up right now.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today ace top stories. in the wake of repeated real aggravations about national security agencies spying. the chief of the nsa and director of national intelligence testified before congress put forward tuesday which stopped the nsa widespread surveillance of phone records. >> i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> an apology from marilyn tavanner about the problems of the affordable care act website. testifying before a sharply critical house committee. it has been one year since rr